Deterioration of the nation's infrastructure has been well known in the last several years. Existing columns used for bridges formed from steel and/or concrete have numerous problems. The steel structural columns are prone to losing their structural integrity over time by corrosion due to wet weather conditions and the like. Corrosion is especially a problem for steel structural supports used in coastal areas.
Concrete bridge pier type columns are also subject to deterioration of their long-term durability and their structural durability. Permeability of the exposed concrete by water can cause the concrete to deteriorate over time. For example, in northern climate areas that are subject to the changing weather conditions due to winter and summer, moisture trapped in concrete during the winter which freezes can expand and crack the concrete piers. Furthermore, corrosion is known to occur to the reinforcing steel bars used inside concrete columns.
Known techniques such as epoxy coating and/or galvanizing the steel reinforcing bars has not been successful over long periods of time especially in severe weather environments such as the Florida Keys.
Both concrete and steel columns can additionally fail in known seismic zone areas such as Southern California. Furthermore, hurricane prone areas such as Florida can also decrease the durability of the concrete and steel.
Various proposals have been made over the years to solve the problems described above, but still fail to adequately solve all the problems described above. See For example: U.S. Pat. No. 3,520,749 to Rubenstein; U.S. Pat. No. 3,644,611 to Willes; U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,060 to Killmeyer et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,804 to Pierce; U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,368 to Grau; U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,603 to Morgan; U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,830 to Cinti; U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,769 to Kaempen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,721 to Oonuki et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,452 to Kunito; U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,475 to Jaeger et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,873 to Grondziel; U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,542 to Ozawa et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,019 to Morgan.
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above referred problems.